East Screen / West Screen

East Screen / West Screen is a podcast focused on cinema from Hong Kong, China, Asia and the West. Join hosts Paul Fox, Kevin Ma, and selected guests as they discuss news, rumors and reviews.

Contributors:

Paul Fox – A college lecturer in the field of Media Studies and Asian Studies, Paul spends a disproportionate amount of time watching Hong Kong movies, marking student assignments, writing lectures, or hunting super-mutants in the capital wasteland. A former resident of the US, Paul moved to Hong Kong in 2000 to become more immersed in southern Chinese culture and language. Prior to becoming a college lecturer, he has worked for Motorola and (briefly) Disney. Paul holds a BA in Asian Studies, an MFA in Creative Media and an MA in Media Cultures. He is currently contemplating pursuit of a PHD or reinventing his life and becoming a cartoonist.

Kevin Ma – Kevin was born in Hong Kong, and moved to the United States at age nine. He picked up the dangerous hobby of film watching as he grew up, and has spent more money on buying movies than he’ll ever admit. In 2005, Kevin began work as a freelance film/music critic for Yesasia.com and Lovehkfilm.com. Since his return to Hong Kong in 2007, he has also taken on freelance journalism and scriptwriting. He is on track to receive his MFA in Cinema and Television (concentration scriptwriting) in 2010. When he manages to find a spare moment, he writes in his news aggregation blog The Golden Rock. Then, of course, he watches some more movies.

Special Guests:

William Chan – Graduated in Hong Kong with a Language and Communication degree and an MFA degree in Media design and Technology. William is working as a multimedia developer as well as an independent performing arts critic, book editor, theatre performer and instructor in media production. In 1999 William founded the amateur theatre group Friends’ Theatre (友好戲睇), and has since created more than 15 original studio theatre works and multimedia performances. William’s Blog

Tim Youngs – Tim was the founder of Another Hong Kong Movie Page (http://www.kowloonside.com/) one of the first Hong Kong English language based websites to talk about Hong Kong cinema. In addition to writing reviews, the site was notable for archiving images of the famous painted billboards that local cinemas used to use. Tim has since moved on to bigger things in working with the Udine Far East Film Festival. As such he has little time for writing reviews these days, but he still stays actively engaged in his enjoyment of local cinema.

Ross Chen – Ross (aka. Kozo) is the founder of the LoveHKFilm.com website. From his website his bio reads, “In 2002, Chen founded LoveHKFilm.com to inspire him to continue watching and writing about Hong Kong film. When reviewing film, he goes by the pseudonym Kozo. In 2005, Chen was hired by YesAsia.com to be a Senior English Editor. Despite his employment by the leading online Asian Entertainment retailer, he pledges to maintain an impartial stance when reviewing Hong Kong Cinema. In other words, he will continue to be as mean as he possibly can. In 2006 he was promoted to Managing Editor, whereupon he joined the ranks of the pointy-haired bosses and lost his sense of humor.”

Scott Johnson – Cartoonist and podcaster, Scott is the founder of the Extralife web-comic and numerous podcasts networked under his Frogpants Studios label. One of the early adopters and founders of both the podcasting movement and web-comics, Scott continues to explore digital mediums as a form of both expression and independent commerce.

Kenneth Brorsson – Kenneth Brorsson aka Ken aka Sleazy K co-host of Podcast on Fire and the creator/reviewer of So Good… – Hong Kong DVD Movie Reviews. This Swede born in the desolate lands of Fnürfenhurfen can be heard enthusiastically spilling the beans on his favourite slices of violent, gory, messed up, cut & pasted and heartfelt cinema. The choices remain eclectic on air just like in his writing so beware and embrace the Ken.

Rufus de Rham – Rufus is currently a MA student in the Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program at New York University. He holds a BFA in Cinema Studies with a concentration on Korean cinema and culture. He runs the websites Paper Spaceships, focusing on genre literature, and cineAWESOME!, a film review and culture site. When not at school or writing he also makes films for Lucid Visions Film, a filmmaker cooperative located in New York City. He is interested in Korean independent film, New Media, and issues of gender in Korean melodrama. He is also interested in the history of Korean democratic movements and protest culture. Some of his writing on Korean film can be found over at cineAWESOME!.

Shelley Cheung – Shelly works in the bowels of YesAsia.com. In her free time, when she is not being oppressed by her YesAsia overlords, Shelley takes up the banner of Super Fan Girl. She has a heroic taste for Asian pop culture and consumes it faster than an instant noodle and crosses language barriers in a single bound.